EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013
HudsonAlpha awarded grant to improve diagnoses of childhood genetic disorders
Even in the absence of a ready solution, knowing why a child faces physical, emotional and intellectual challenges is helpful to physicians and families. Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology are using high throughput genomic sequencing to meet major diagnostic needs for childhood genetic disorders through a multi-year grant potentially totaling more than $7.6 million from the National Institutes of Health. The study grant is part of the NIH's Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research program.

NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013

SIGGRAPH 2013

ACM Transactions on Graphics
Perfecting digital imaging
Three Harvard papers presented at SIGGRAPH this week aim to improve computer graphics and display technologies! One tackles the challenge of rendering realistic translucent objects like soap; the second creates a new type of 3D display technology; and the third makes color grading accessible to amateur videographers.

National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, European Research Council, and others

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013

Epidemiology
Study: No link between mercury exposure and autism-like behaviors
The potential impact of exposure to low levels of mercury on the developing brain -- specifically by women consuming fish during pregnancy -- has long been the source of concern and some have argued that the chemical may be responsible for behavioral disorders such as autism. However, a new study that draws upon more than 30 years of research in the Republic of Seychelles reports that there is no association between pre-natal mercury exposure and autism-like behaviors.

NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Government of the Republic of Seychelles

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013

Nature
Controlling genes with light
A new technology developed at MIT and the Broad Institute can rapidly start or halt the expression of any gene of interest simply by shining light on the cells.

Hubert Schoemaker Felllowship, NIH/Transformative R01 & Director's Pioneer Award, and others

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013

Nature Communications
A new weapon against stroke
Stem cell research for stroke has focused on developing therapeutic neurons -- the primary movers of electrical impulses in the brain -- to repair tissue damaged when oxygen to the brain is limited by a blood clot or break in a vessel. New UC Davis research, however, shows that other cells may be better suited for the task.

National Institutes of Health, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shriners Hospitals for Children

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013

Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids
Digital PCR technology detects brain-tumor-associated mutation in cerebrospinal fluid
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers and their colleagues have used digital versions of a standard molecular biology tool to detect a common tumor-associated mutation in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with brain tumors.

National Institutes of Health, Brain Tumor Funders' Collaborative, American Brain Tumor Assocoation

Public Release: 23-Jul-2013
University of Tennessee professors explore end-of-life needs for HIV/AIDS patients
Approximately 10,000 Americans die with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis each year, and many of these patients lack access to the care they need at the end of their lives. This is especially true for those who live in the Appalachian region. A group of nursing professors at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is embarking on a study to try to change this.

National Institutes of Health